Lake Nimrod looking for a great spring seasonFor several years in a row now Lake Nimrod in Yell County has become a very popular body of water with good numbers of anglers from all over the region making increasing visits each and every year. For years the species of fish caring this fishery has been crappie, crappie, crappie and there is no doubt that Lake Nimrod is a tremendous crappie lake, but anglers throughout the region are finding out Nimrod is much more. From the first white bas...

Cyclones' Ray signs with NAIA programRussellville Lady Cyclones All-State swimmer Hannah Ray signed a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) letter of intent to swim for the Wayland Baptist Pioneers on Friday inside the Russellville High School cafeteria. “This is a pretty cool thing,” RHS head swim coach Gary Knudsen told the crowd of family, friends and fans gathered to support Ray’s opportunity to swim at the next level. “We’ve had five or six kids go on to c...

Wonder Boys offense has a breakthroughArkansas Tech’s offense apparently broke out of its shell during Saturday’s annual spring green and gold scrimmage at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field. And it couldn’t have come at a better time, as the Wonder Boys wrapped up a spring practice session with two defensive coordinators and a new offensive coordinator. “The last game of (last) season, we started 11 seniors. We’ve got a lot of young guys on offense,” second-year Wonder Boys coach Ray...

Kindrick throws a no-hitter against MSMFifteen batters couldn’t locate Russellville Lady Cyclones pitcher Andrea Kindrick, as she tossed a no-hitter Friday during the Lady Cyclones’ 10-0 victory over the Mount Saint Mary Belles at M.J. Hickey Park. Kindrick struck out 12 and walked one. “Andrea had some great movement on her pitches tonight,” Russellville head coach Harley Sisson said. “She stayed ahead in her counts and only threw 64 pitches in the no-hitter. She barely broke a sw...

ATU runs past Tigers in baseballThe No. 9 Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys baseball team used a seven-run, eighth-inning rally to pick up 7-5 victory over Ouachita Baptist on Friday at Tech Field. Saturday, ATU totaled 18 hits in its 16-11 win in game one of the series doubleheader. The Wonder Boys scored seven runs in the third inning, four in the fourth and three in the fifth. Results from game two were unaivalable by press time. Saturday’s win was ATU’s 12th straight, the longes...

by
ATU Sports InformationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Cyclones top Greenwood with late rallyGREENWOOD — The Russellville Cyclones defeated the Greenwood Bulldogs 2-1 on Thursday with both runs coming in the top of the seventh inning. Trailing 1-0, Cyclones first baseman Andy Campbell hit a solo home run to tie the score, before Chase Bicanovsky’s sacrifice fly opened the plate for Garrett Freeman to score the winning run. Greenwood’s Jake Herrel hit a grounder to Cody Underhill who threw him out at first in the seventh inning. The Bu...

Cyclones falter against LRCThe Russellville Cyclones soccer team surged toward the net in the final moments of its game against the Little Rock Catholic Rockets on Friday at Cyclone Stadium. When the ball sailed to the net, the Rockets goalie fell on it like a live grenade to finalize the Cyclones’ 3-2 loss. “We outplayed them, really,” Russellville head coach Jared Fuller said after the game. “But we just didn’t do quite enough to win.” The Cyclones (10-6, 3-4 7A/6A-Co...

Brandon Allen top Hog; 2 QBs switch positions FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Arkansas moved two quarterbacks to other positions this week, but Brandon Allen remained the starter. A.J. Derby became a tight end and Damon Mitchell converted to wide receiver during practice this week. Both made catches during the team's second open scrimmage Saturday. Derby, who started one game last season because of an injury to Brandon Allen and played the majority of another, caught an 8-yard scoring pass from Allen...

Asmussen's Tapiture the favorite at Arkansas Derby HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Steve Asmussen isn't answering questions at the moment about allegations that he and a former top assistant mistreated horses under their care. The trainer, however, looks as relaxed as ever overseeing morning workouts at Oaklawn Park. Off-the-track concerns aside, Asmussen has reason to feel good about today's Arkansas Derby, where he'll run Tapiture in the $1 million Kentucky Derby prep. The colt, who won the Southwest Sta...

Wonder Boys host final GAC series against OBUThe No. 9 Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys baseball team (29-8, 16-5 Great American Conference) will host the Ouachita Baptist Tigers (19-21, 12-9 GAC) in a three-game set at Tech Field today and Saturday. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. while Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. ATU heads into these games currently in first place in the GAC, while Ouachita is currently in fifth. The Wonder Boys are also on a ten-game winning strea...

by
ATU Sports InformationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Pottsville to host 3rd annual 'Boot' gamePOTTSVILLE — When someone asks who won the third annual Boot game between the Dardanelle Sand Lizards and the Pottsville Apaches, either team would like to claim that honor for more reasons than a W in the record books. Not only are the Sand Lizards and the Apaches 4A-4 Conference rivals, their head coaches are competitive twin brothers. Throw in the charity Boot event that envelopes the game, and you’ve got the makings for a long-standing riv...

Hector softball led by freshmanHECTOR — When Lady Wildcats head coach Kyle Russell told freshman Darci Fountain she would be the starting pitcher for Hector’s varsity softball team, she was nervous. She had played league softball since age 8 and competitive league softball since age 10, but pitching for the high school team as a freshman is another ballgame altogether. “Sure, I was nervous,” she explained. “But another part of me knew I could do it. I was pretty confident I...

RHS hits 3 homers during Vilonia winThe Russellville Cyclones used three home runs to defeat the Vilonia Eagles 7-1 in a nonconference match-up at M.J. Hickey Park on Monday. Russellville’s first home run came in the bottom of the first when senior Cody Underhill hit a hard fly ball over the fence to give the Cyclones an early lead. Andy Campbell and Jacob Barker each popped fly balls over the fence in the fifth to give the Cyclones a 4-1 lead. Russellville added two more in the...

RHS soccer falls in GreenwoodGREENWOOD — The Lady Cyclones fell 2-1 to the Geenwood Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday at Smith Robinson Stadium. The Lady Cyclones struck early when freshman Rachel Prochazka crossed the ball through two defenders to sophomore Sidney Brandon who nailed it through the net for a 1-0 lead at the 23:34 mark of the first half, which would prove to be the only score of the half, despite several missed opportunities by Russellville. The Lady Bulldogs tied ...

Dover clings to big early edge on PanthersDOVER — The Dover Pirates used a big third inning to defeat the Clarksville Panthers 7-6 in a nonconference match-up Wednesday at J.P. Lovelady Park. The Panthers trailed 7-0 at the close of the inning, but scored four in the sixth and two in the seventh in a rally that came up just a beat shy. “We started strong,” Dover head coach Jason McGhee said. “And we held on late. We struggle to get hits against pitchers like what they have. I think it...

ATU beats SAU on Johnson's late singleJay Johnson’s walk-off RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a two-run rally to lift the No. 9 Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys to a 2-1 nonconference win over the No. 8 Southern Arkansas Muleriders on Wednesday at Tech Field. ATU (29-8) has increased its winning streak to 10, the longest winning streak since the Wonder Boys won 11 in the 1988 season. The game was scoreless until the sixth inning when SAU’s (29-11) Carver ...

by
ATU Sports InformationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Tapiture favorite in Saturday's Arkansas Derby HOT SPRINGS (AP) — Tapiture has been designated the early favorite in the $1 million Arkansas Derby and will break from the third post position. The Southwest Stakes winner was named a 9-5 favorite for Saturday's race at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Bayern is 2-1 and Strong Mandate had odds of 9-2 Wednesday. Danza will break from the rail Saturday. Joel Rosario will be aboard Tapiture in the Kentucky Derby prep race. In order from the rail out...

Bash at the Ballpark this FridayThe Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce will host Bash at the Ballpark 2014 at Arkansas Tech University on Friday, April 11. The event will include music, food and prizes in conjunction with the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys’ baseball game that evening at Tech Field against Ouachita Baptist University. Event sponsors include First State Bank, Sherwood Urgent Care, Walmart, Shelter Insurance – Matt Cooper, Advanced Wealth Management – Jarrod Tola...

Hector mauls Lamar 9-1HECTOR — The Hector Lady Wildcats ran their winning streak to 11 games Tuesday with a 9-1 victory over the Lamar Lady Warriors. Hector (12-2, 4-0 2A-4) held a slim 4-1 lead entering the sixth inning, but an inside-the-park home run by Emily Mathis opened up the Lady Wildcats lead to 7-1 as part of a five-run frame. Darcy Fountain broke the ice for Hector as her triple in the first inning drove home Kasey Rook to give the Lady Wildcats a 1-0 le...

Errors doom Sand LizardsDARDANELLE — Luke Price’s in-the-park homerun in the first inning of the Dover Pirates 16-1 victory over the Dardanelle Sand Lizards set the tone for the rest of the game on Tuesday at Merritt Park. Price’s homerun drove in Skeeter Shaw to give the Pirates (9-3, 3-0 4A-4 Conference) an early 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Sand Lizards (7-9, 2-1 4A-4) were guilty of 10 errors, several resulting in runs, throughout the game. Dardanelle head coach Will...